


A Game of Cat And Mouse

by EverestV



Series: Playing The Hand Dealt (Punkcop Prompt Fills) [16]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9557387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverestV/pseuds/EverestV
Summary: prompt: “Beth makes Sarah get a job”





	

Beth fiddled with her earpiece, making sure it was secure and working properly and not about to short-circuit or stop working for any other reason. _Relax, relax, relax. You’ve met...a few of them before. And it’s always weird seeing your face on someone else’s face, but this is more important. You need to cool it._

She was entering the busier part of the marketplace now, and people were bustling about in a routine-like haste. It was early, but time waited for no merchant it seemed. Hands were flying everywhere, raising up stalls and sweeping up storefronts, scrubbing at faces and adjusting at wares. The dust didn’t bother them, per say, but if it did for their customers they were eager to get rid of it. Or try to. Beth just wished the attempts weren’t so futile. Her throat felt incredibly dry and shifting in the ragged outfit she wore, she longed for her clean, comfortable Alliance uniform. _What Alison would say about acting beneath me..._

But thinking about the others just made her chest tighten all the more, made her resolve all the more shaky, and she needed to keep moving forward. Forward, forward, forward until she found the ship she was looking for. And in this mess of loose bodies and wandering hands where everything looked the same, worse off than she had ever been told, her chances seemed to be dwindling by the minute. She needed to keep moving.

When an hour or so had passed, her feet protesting loudly in the shabby boots she was certainly not used to wearing yet, she turned the corner on a small dock she hadn’t noticed before. There were only three ships stationed there and the place seemed abandoned; the sudden transition from constant noise to an almost silence made Beth’s skin crawl.

Still, there was the target in question and it looked exactly as dilapidated as the patrol had reported. There was so much scrap metal threatening to fall off the ship, so much chipped paint covering the sides, Beth had to pause and take a deep breath before she could force herself to approach.

“Manning?” She called out, knocking hollowly on the hull before taking a generous step back from the loading bay door. Hearing her voice sound clear and foreign, her shoulders loosened further and her posture fell into something more casual. She allowed herself a small smile. _Perfect, so the voice disguise works then._ “This Sarah Manning’s ship?”

“Who wants to know?” Beth spun around and tried not to seem too startled by being faced with... _well, almost myself. Dammit, I’ll never get used to this._ Her only solace was that Sarah Manning—there was no question about it being her—just looked suspicious and irritated, not shocked or taken aback or like she’d seen a ghost. _All the tech works then, even facial configuration._

Beth walked over and outstretched a hand, unsurprised that Sarah didn’t take it. “Um, I want to know.” _Confident, but not too confident. Let her take the lead on this, let her think you’re submissive enough to only barely be a threat._ “I’ve heard stories about you and I was wondering—”

“Stories?” Sarah scoffed and rolled her eyes, everything but her shoulders feigning relaxed control. Beth could see she was ready to react at any second, reflexes coiled like a taut spring, the decision between fight and flight apparent and familiar. _Like constantly looking in a mirror._ “What stories. I’m a nobody from nowhere, and so are you by the looks of it. Whatever you want, you’re not gonna find it here.” She started walking past and toward her ship when Beth grabbed her wrist and was pierced with a glare so sharp she almost let go immediately. _Is that how I would look like...? No. Different people._

“Wait, please hear me out.” Beth kept the grip firm, but loosened it just slightly. Sarah pulled away with a jerk. “I need to ask you a favor. Well, no, I mean, I can pay you. Er, up front and everything. But this is...this is life or death and I think you’re my best bet.”

Sarah was hesitating and Beth couldn’t ask for more. “What makes you say that?” Beth almost huffed in frustration, it wasn’t like they had all the time in the world here. And she hadn’t expected Sarah Manning to be nearly this oblivious of her local fame.

“Because I _know_ you.” Beth bit her lip. “Well, of you. You’re Sarah Manning, the grifter. The con artist, the runaway." _The unmonitored trap, as I've often heard. That’s why I’m here._ The return of her glare made Beth speed forward quickly. "But you're also a legend. Sarah Manning, the wild type, the best and the bravest." _And let's hope for my sake, a very, very good sister._ "I need help and I'm coming to you because I know you can give it to me. Look, I just...I need you." _Manning, I swear, you need me more than you can know._

Sarah was looking away, not at her shoes, not somewhere so low so her guard could fall, but clearly avoiding Beth's gaze. _Did the speech come out too personal? Did I make myself more suspicious?_ Silence lapsed between them thickly and Beth struggled to keep her posture from slipping into a form rigidly at attention. "What...what is it you even want me to do for you, exactly?"

"I need to disappear." _And believe me, so do you. Especially you._


End file.
